Planing boat with airbag system

ABSTRACT

A planing boat, particularly of a small size, is provided with an airbag system. The airbag system includes at least one bag-shaped airbag body, a housing which accommodates the airbag body, a detector for detecting a collision of the boat, an expanding unit which inflates the airbag body at the time of collision of the boat, and a controller for controlling the detector and the inflation of the airbag body. In a preferred embodiment, the airbag system includes a first airbag body in the handle cover which is blown up from the handle bar to a rear side of the boat and a second airbag body in the handle cover which is blown up toward a front side of knees of a rider.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/108,667, filed Apr. 19, 2005, and is based upon and claims thebenefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No.2004-124301 filed on Apr. 20, 2004, the entire contents of each of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a planing boat, particularly of smalltype, equipped with an airbag system.

2. Related Art

Recently, it is general for a four-wheel car to be provided with anairbag system as means for relaxing an impact on riders in a collision.

The airbag systems for four-wheel cars are based on the premise of usingwith a seatbelt and used for relaxing an impact on the riders in a carcollision, and the seatbelt is for absorbing a force that throws theriders forwards.

As marine sports become popular, a collision between small planing boatssuch as motor boats and wet bikes (or personal watercrafts) increases.Accordingly, airbag systems for relaxing the impact on the riders at aboat collision have been researched and developed to be mounted.

An example of the airbag system provided for motor boats is disclosed inJapanese Patent Laid-open (KOKAI) Publication No. HEI 7-108985, which isequipped with an airbag on the deck obliquely behind the cockpitsurrounded by a cowling, this airbag being inflated manually when therider feels or detects danger.

Although there is no example of airbags designed specifically for a wetbike in which a cockpit is exposed to the outside, there is anothersimilar example of a wearable airbag suitable for protecting motor-bikeriders (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No.HEI 9-66789.

However, a small planing boat such as wet bike sometimes utilizes weightshift of the rider on a saddle-type driver's seat to control theoperation, and in such a planing boat, no seatbelt is equipped.Accordingly, the airbag system for the four-wheel car based on thepremise of utilizing the seatbelt is not suitable for such small planingboats. In addition, because of no seatbelt equipped, at a time ofcollision, a large force directed to the outside of the boat is appliedto the rider in the small planing boat, being dangerous.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been conceived in consideration of the defectsmentioned above, and an object of the invention is to provide a planingboat, particularly of small size, equipped with an airbag system capableof relaxing an impact on an rider at a time of collision and preventingthe rider from being thrown to the outside of the boat.

The above and other objects can be achieved according to the presentinvention by providing, in one aspect, a planing boat with an airbagsystem comprising:

a boat body extending in a longitudinal direction of a planing boat;

an engine mounted in the boat body;

a steering handle bar supported by a steering shaft at an upper portionof the boat body so as to be tuned to right and left;

a handle cover which covers the handle bar;

a hood which covers a front half upper surface of the boat body in frontof the handle bar;

a rider driving seat disposed behind the handle bar; and

an airbag system including at least one bag-shaped airbag body, ahousing which accommodates the airbag body, a detector for detecting acollision of the boat, an expanding unit which inflates or blows up theairbag body at the time of collision of the boat, and a controller forcontrolling the detector and the inflation of the airbag body,

the airbag system including a first airbag body in the handle coverwhich is blown up from the handle bar to a rear side of the boat and asecond airbag body in the handle cover which is blown up toward a frontside of knees of a rider.

In this first aspect, preferable embodiments or examples may furtherprovide the following features.

The handle bar and the handle cover are mounted to the boat body to bedetachable in a set with the housing. The steering shaft is dividedaxially into divided pieces which are coupled together with a joint, anda whirl-stopping member is disposed so as to stop whirl motion of thesteering shaft and the joint.

The detector is mounted to the boat body to be detachable in a set witha portion of the boat body. The airbag body is colored in a color otherthan blue and green or coated with a fluorescent paint. The engine is afour-stroke-cycle engine.

The airbag system includes further airbag bodies which are disposed inthe grips on both ends of the handle bar so as to be expanded and blownup along the width of the boat body.

The airbag system includes still further airbag bodies which aredisposed in broadsides of the boat body so as to be expanded and blownup upward along the width of the boat body to cover rider's feet decksin a side view. The airbag system is switched to be operated “ON” and“OFF”.

In a second aspect of the present invention, there is also provided aplaning boat with an airbag system comprising:

a boat body extending in a longitudinal direction of a planing boat;

an engine mounted in the boat body;

a steering handle bar disposed at an upper portion of the boat body;

a meter panel disposed in front of the handle bar;

a hood which covers a front half upper surface of the boat body in frontof the meter panel;

a frame extending along the longitudinal direction of the boat body at abottom portion thereof;

a support frame provided in the vicinity of a distal end portion of theframe so as to extend toward a lower surface of the hood; and

an airbag system including at least one bag-shaped airbag body, ahousing which accommodates the airbag body, a detector for detecting acollision of the boat, an expanding unit which inflates or blows up theairbag body at the time of collision of the boat, and a controller forcontrolling the detector and the inflation of the airbag body,

wherein the airbag body is disposed under the hood and is set so as toblow up toward the meter panel by utilizing a portion of the hoodcovering an upper portion of the meter panel as a guide slop.

The present invention of this second aspect may provides the followingpreferred embodiments or examples.

The airbag system is mounted to the boat body to be detachable in a setwith portion of the boat body.

The detector is mounted to the boat body to be detachable in a set witha portion of the boat body. The detector may be mounted to be integralwith the housing. The airbag body is colored in a color other than blueand green or coated with a fluorescent paint.

The engine is mounted in the boat body below the rider seat, auxiliaryengine machinery including a fuel tank is disposed in front of theengine in the boat body, and the airbag body is disposed in a spaceabove the auxiliary engine machinery. The engine is a four-stroke-cycleengine.

The frame has an end portion located between the collision detector andthe housing disposed under the hood.

The airbag system includes further airbag bodies which are disposed inthe grips on both ends of the handle bar so as to be expanded and blownup along the width of the boat body.

The airbag system includes still further airbag bodies which aredisposed in broadsides of the boat body so as to be expanded and blownup upward along the width of the boat body to cover rider's feet decksin a side view. The airbag system is switched to be operated “ON” and“OFF”.

In a third aspect of the present invention, there is also provided aplaning boat with an airbag system comprising:

a boat body extending in a longitudinal direction of a planing boat;

an engine mounted in the boat body;

a steering handle bar supported by a steering shaft at an upper portionof the boat body so as to be turned to right and left;

a handle cover which covers the handle bar;

a meter panel disposed in front of the handle bar;

a hood which covers a front half upper surface of the boat body in frontof the meter panel;

a frame extending along the longitudinal direction of the boat body at abottom portion thereof;

a rider driving seat disposed behind the handle bar;

a support frame provided in the vicinity of a distal end portion of theframe so as to extend toward a lower surface of the hood; and

an airbag system including at least one bag-shaped airbag body, ahousing which accommodates the airbag body, a detector for detecting acollision of the boat, an expanding unit which inflates or blows up theairbag body at the time of collision of the boat, and a controller forcontrolling the detector and the inflation of the airbag body,

wherein the airbag system including a first airbag body in the handlecover which is blown up from the handle bar to a rear side of the boat,a second airbag body in the handle cover which is blown up toward afront side of knees of a rider, and a third airbag body supported by thesupport frame and disposed under the hood so as to expand and inflatetoward the meter panel by utilizing a portion of the hood covering theupper portion of the meter panel as a guide slop, the first, second andthird airbag bodies being activated such that, depending on a degree ofthe collision, only the airbag body disposed in the handle cover isblown up, all the airbag bodies are blown up at the same time, or theairbag body disposed under the hood is blown up with a time lag relativeto the airbag body disposed in the handle cover.

The present invention of this third aspect may be provided with thefollowing preferred embodiments or examples.

That is, a timing of blowing up the airbag body disposed under the hoodis delayed from a timing of blowing up the airbag body disposed in thehandle cover, and the expanded and blown-up area of the airbag bodydisposed under the hood is set to be wider than that of the airbag bodydisposed in the handle cover.

The airbag body disposed under the hood is set to be contracted, afterthe blowing up thereof, at a time later than the contraction of theairbag body disposed in the handle cover, set to be hardly contracted,or set not to be contracted. The airbag body is colored in a color otherthan blue and green or coated with a fluorescent paint.

The engine is mounted in the boat body below the rider seat, auxiliaryengine machinery including a fuel tank is disposed in front of theengine in the boat body, and the airbag body is disposed in a spaceabove the auxiliary engine machinery.

The airbag body disposed in the handle cover has a size along the widthof the boat body, which is set to be larger than the width of the handlebar and smaller than the width of the boat body, and the airbag bodydisposed under the hood has a size which is set to be larger than thewidth of the boat body.

The steering shaft is divided axially into divided pieces which arecoupled together with a joint, and a whirl-stopping member is disposedso as to stop whirl motion of the steering shaft and the joint.

The engine is a four-stroke-cycle engine.

The frame has an end portion located between the collision detector andthe housing disposed under the hood.

The airbag system includes further airbag bodies which are disposed inthe grips on both ends of the handle bar so as to expand and brow upalong the width of the boat body. The airbag system includes stillfurther airbag bodies which are disposed in broadsides of the boat bodyso as to expand and blow up upward along the width of the boat body tocover rider's feet decks in a side view. The airbag system is switchedto be operated “ON” and “OFF”.

According to the planing boat, particularly of small size, with anairbag system of the aspects and preferred embodiments of the presentinvention mentioned above, the rider can be prevented from strikingagainst the steering handle and the meter panel and also from beingthrown outside the boat. The maintenance and detachment of the airbagsystem from outside the boat body can be facilitated and improved aswell as handling of the airbag body and/or air bag bodies, therebyfacilitating restoration to traveling on its own power.

The airbag system can easily be dismounted from the boat body forstorage when the planing boat is out of use. The high viewability of theairbag body from a distance can be achieved by applying specific colorsor like, facilitating discovery of accident boats and rescue of riders.

The distal end of the boat body is endowed with an impact absorbingfunction, so that it protects the rider effectively, and the distal endof the boat body is also endowed with a waterproof function, thuspreventing the inside of the boat body from invading of water even ifthe distal end of the boat body absorbs an impact and is deformed.

The nature and further characteristic features of the present inventionwill be made clear from the following descriptions with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a left side view of a wet-bike type small planing boatequipped with an airbag system according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the planing boat shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a left-side longitudinal sectional view of a small planingboat according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional plan view of the small planing boataccording to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a sectional front view of the small planing boat according tothe first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a left-side longitudinal sectional view of a small planingboat according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional plan view of the small planing boataccording to the second embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a sectional front view of the small planing boat according tothe second embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a left-side longitudinal sectional view of a small planingboat according to a third embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional plan view of the small planing boataccording to the third embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a sectional front view of the small planing boat according tothe third embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a left-side longitudinal sectional view of a small planingboat according to a fourth embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a longitudinal sectional plan view of the small planing boataccording to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a sectional front view of the small planing boat according tothe fourth embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a left-side longitudinal sectional view of a small planingboat, in which the airbag body is disposed to the front side of theboat;

FIG. 16 is a longitudinal sectional plan view of the small planing boat,in which the airbag body is disposed to the front side of the boat;

FIG. 17 is a left-side longitudinal sectional view of a small planingboat according to a fifth embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a longitudinal sectional plan view of the small planing boataccording to the fifth embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a left-side longitudinal sectional view of the dividedstructure of a steering shaft; and

FIG. 20 is a left-side longitudinal sectional view, in an enlargedscale, of the front side space at the distal end of the boat.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be describedhereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 represent the first embodiment of the present invention,and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a planing boat 1, particularly of smallsize, includes a steering handle bar 3 at a central upper portion of aboat body 2, and a straddle type driving seat 4 for an rider 6 isdisposed on the rear side of the handle bar 3. In front of the handlebar 3, a meter panel 5 is disposed. Decks 7 for the rider 6 to placehis/her feet are provided on both sides of the driving seat 4.

The front half of the small planing boat 1 is covered with an openablehood 8, and the meter panel 5 is also covered with a portion of the hood8. The handle bar 3 is covered with a handle cover 9 and has grips 10 onboth ends. Rear view mirrors 11 are attached to both sides of the boatbody 2 between the handle bar 3 and the meter panel 5 thereof. Withreference to FIGS. 3 to 5, the boat body 2 is provided with an engine 12and auxiliary engine machinery such as a heat exchanger 13, a muffler14, and a fuel tank 15. The engine 12 is a water-cooledfour-stroke-cycle multiple-cylinder engine in which a plurality ofupstanding cylinders (four cylinders in this embodiment) are arranged inparallel with the axis 16 of the boat body 2 in its advancing(longitudinal) direction and is mounted below the driving seat 4substantially at the central portion of the boat body 2. The engine 12employs a dry sump lubrication system in which an oil tank 17 isprovided separately in front thereof.

Furthermore, one side end of, for example, an intake system 20 such as acarburetor 18, a fuel injector, and an air cleaner 19 is connected toone end, i.e., left side end, of the engine 12, and on the other hand,an exhaust pipe 22 constituting an exhaust system 21 is connected to theother end, i.e. right side end thereof. The downstream end of theexhaust pipe 22 is connected to the muffler 14 constituting anotherexhaust system 21 disposed on the rearmost end of the boat body 2.

An impeller shaft 23 extends from the rear side of the engine 12backwards in parallel with the axis 16 of the boat body so as topenetrate a jet pump 24 provided at the bottom portion of the boat, andan impeller 80 is disposed at the rear end portion thereof. The jet pump24 has a jet nozzle 25 at the rear end so as to project from therearmost end of the boat body 2.

When the engine 12 is driven to rotate the impeller shaft 23, the waterin the bottom of the boat is sucked by the jet pump 24 through theoperation of the impeller 80 and jetted through the jet nozzle 25backwards. The planing boat 1 moves forwards by the reaction of thisjetting, and the jet nozzle 25 is laterally rotatable by the operationof the handle bar 3 supported by a steering shaft 26 so as to beturnable to the right and left, thus freely changing the movingdirection of the planing boat 1.

The engine-cooling heat exchanger 13 is disposed behind the intakesystem 20. The heat exchanger 13 cools the cooling water heated bycirculating in the engine 12 with sea water etc. taken from theexterior. An inlet (intake) port 27 for sea water is formed in thevicinity of the jet nozzle 25. An outlet (exhaust) port 28 for sea wateris also formed in the port wall of the boat body 2, for example. Theheat exchanger 13, the inlet port 27 and the outlet port 28 arecommunicated together by means of hose 29.

The fuel tank 15 is disposed in the space in front of the engine 12 andcovered with the hood 8. An oil passage 30 extends from the uppersurface of the fuel tank 15 toward the deck 7 of the boat body 2. An oilfiller port 31 opposed to the deck 7 is closed by a cap 32.

Frames 33 extending along the longitudinal direction of the boat body 2are disposed on both sides of the boat body 2. The frames 33 areconnected to each other with bridge members 34 a to 34 c. The rigidityof the distal end of the boat body 2 is set to be lower than that of theother portions of the boat body 2. An elastic material 35 such as rubberis applied to the inside of the distal end of the boat body 2 so as toform a double structure to thereby provide a waterproof function.

The small planing boat 1 according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention has an airbag system 41 serving as means for relaxingan impact on the rider 6 at a time of collision. According to this firstembodiment, the airbag system 41 principally includes two kinds ofwaterproof and water-repellent bag-shaped airbag bodies 42 and 43, madeof rubber or the like, housings 44 and 45 for accommodating and holdingthe airbag bodies 42 and 43 in an folded state, inflators 46 and 47 forgenerating, e.g., high-pressure gas serving as means for inflating theairbag bodies 42 and 43 in the collision of the boat body 2, a G-sensor48 for sensing the acceleration (G) by the collision of the boat body 2and determining the activation of the inflators 46 and 47, and acontroller 49 for controlling the G-sensor 48 and the inflation of theairbag bodies 42 and 43.

Although the G-sensor 48 is adopted as a sensor for detecting thecollision in this embodiment, it is not limited to such acceleration (G)sensor and any kind of sensor may be utilized for detecting thecollision.

The airbag bodies 42 and 43 are provided with housings 44 and 45,respectively, which are disposed in the handle bar 3 at an upper portionof the steering shaft 26 (specifically, inside the handle cover 9covering the handle bar 3). Further, it is desirable that the controller49 is disposed apart from a waterline 81 as much as possible.

The housing 44 is disposed at the upper central portion in the handlecover 9 so that one 42 of the airbag bodies 42 and 43 is inflated andblown up from the handle bar 3 to the rear side of the boat body 2 toprevent the collision of the rider 6 against the handle bar 3.

A pair of left and right housings 45 are disposed at lower both sides inthe handle cover 9 so that the other airbag bodies 43 expand and blow uptoward the front of the knees of the rider 6 to protect the knees of therider from impact in the collision. A portion of the handle cover 9directly above the housing 44 and another portion of the handle cover 9just beside the housings 45 have openings so that the airbag bodies 42and 43 inflate externally from the boat body 2. The openings are closedby airbag covers 50 and 51 to be closed and opened.

A width H2 of the airbag body 42 in the width direction of the boat body2 is set to be larger than a width H1 of the handle bar 3 and to besmaller than a width H3 of the boat body 2 (i.e., H1<H2<H3). The airbagbodies 42 and 43 are colored in relatively conspicuous color other thanblue and green, for example, yellow or orange. The airbag bodies 42 and43 may also be coated with a fluorescent paint.

The steering shaft 26 may be divided axially into pieces, and the handlebar 3 and the handle cover 9 can be detached from the boat body 2, withthe housings 44 and 45 mounted thereto.

A stay 52 extending forward is detachably mounted to the bridge 34 aconnecting the front ends of the left and right frames 33. The G-sensor48 is mounted to the front end of the stay 52 in the front space at thedistal end of the boat body 2, which is covered by the hood 8.

The controller 49 is disposed in the vicinity of the meter panel 5 inthe space covered by the hood 8, below the meter panel 5 in thisembodiment. The G-sensor 48 detects the acceleration along thelongitudinal direction of the boat body 2 at the time of collision ofthe boat body 2 and transmits the acceleration to the controller 49.When the controller 49 determines that the acceleration has exceeded anallowance, the controller 49 generates a driving signal to the inflators46 and 47 to inflate the airbag bodies 42 and 43.

The controller 49, the G-sensor 48, and the inflators 46 and 47 on thehousings 44 and 45 are connected by a harness 53. In the middle of theharness 53, joint members such couplers 54 are provided, by which thesemembers or units are connected so as to be separated from the boat body2 or partially connected thereto.

FIGS. 6 to 8 show a small planing boat 55 according to the secondembodiment of the invention. The basic structure of the planing boat 55of this second embodiment is the same as that of the planing boat 1 ofthe first embodiment. Accordingly, the same reference numerals are addedto the same or like components or elements of this second embodiment andthe detailed description thereof is omitted herein.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, an airbag system 56 provided for the planingboat 55 of this embodiment also includes a bag-shaped airbag body 57,made of rubber or the like, a housing 58 for accommodating the airbagbody 57 in an folded state, an inflator 60 for generating, e.g.,high-pressure gas serving as means for inflating the airbag body 57 atthe time of collision of a boat body 59, the G-sensor 48 for sensing theacceleration (G) by the collision of the boat body 59 and determiningthe activation of the inflator 60, and the controller 49 for controllingthe G-sensor 48 and the inflation or blowing-up of the airbag body 57.The sensor for detecting a collision is not limited to the G-sensor 48,but any kind of sensor detecting the collision may be adopted such as inthe first embodiment.

A support frame 61 extending toward the lower surface of the hood 8 isprovided in the vicinity of the distal end, desirably, behind the distal(front) end, between the left and right frames 33 under the hood 8 andin front of the fuel tank 15 in the front space covered with the hood 8and in front of the engine 12. The housing 58 for accommodating theairbag body 57 is detachably mounted on the upper surface of the supportframe 61 with fixtures such as screws 62. The inflator 60 is mounted tothe lower surface of the housing 58, for example.

The hood 8 directly above the housing 58 is opened so that the airbagbody 57 can blow up outside the boat body 59. The opening is closed byan airbag cover 63 to be openable by the airbag cover 63. The airbagbody 57 blows up toward the meter panel 5 by utilizing a slop, as aguide, being a portion of the hood 8 covering the upper portion of themeter panel 5, thereby preventing the rider 6 from being thrown forwardswhen colliding. A width H4 of the airbag body 57 along the width of theboat body 59 is set larger than the width H3 of the boat body 59 (i.e.,H3<H4). The airbag body 57 is colored in relatively conspicuous colorother than blue and green, for example, yellow or orange. The airbagbody 57 may also be coated with a fluorescent paint.

The stay 52 extending forward is detachably mounted to the bridges 34 ato 34 c connecting the ends of the left and right frames 33 in front ofthe housing 58. The G-sensor 48 is mounted to the front end of the stay52 in the front space at the distal end of the boat body 59, which iscovered by the hood 8. Because it is desired that the controller isdisposed to be apart from the waterline 81 as much as possible, thecontroller 49 is disposed in the vicinity of the meter panel 5 in thespace covered by the hood 8, below the meter panel 5 in this embodiment.

The controller 49, the G-sensor 48, and the inflator 60 on the housing58 are connected by the harness 53. In the middle of the harness 53,joint members such couplers 54 are provided, with which the units aredisconnectably connected to be separated from or partly connected to theboat body 59, as in the first embodiment.

FIGS. 9 to 11 show a small planing boat 64 according to a thirdembodiment of the invention. The basic structure of the planing boat 64according to the third embodiment is the same as that of the planingboat 1 according to the first embodiment. Accordingly, the samecomponents are given the same reference numerals and their descriptionwill be omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, an airbag system 65 provided to a planingboat 64 is equipped with both of the airbag system 41 according to thefirst embodiment and the airbag system 56 according to the secondembodiment.

Specifically, the airbag system 65 includes the airbag body 42 disposedat the upper central portion in the handle cover 9, for preventing thecollision of the rider 6 against the handle bar 3 by blowing up from thehandle bar 3 to the rear of a boat body 66 at the time of collision, theairbag bodies 43 disposed on both sides of the lower portion in thehandle cover 9 and blowing up toward the front of the knees of the rider6 to protect the knees in the collision, and the airbag body 57 disposedunder the hood 8 and blowing up toward the meter panel 5, for preventingthe rider 6 from being thrown forwards at the time of collision. Sincethe controller 49, the G-sensor 48, the harness 53, the coupler 54, etc.are common to those in the former embodiments, their description will beomitted here. The G-sensor 48 is also the same as that in the first orsecond embodiment, and any kind of sensor detecting a collision may beemployed.

It is not necessarily for all the airbag bodies 42, 43, and 57 to beactivated at the same time and they may be set to be activatedseparately or synchronously as occasion demands or depending onsituations such as magnitude of the collision. For example, only theairbag bodies 42 and 43 disposed in the vicinity of the handle bar 3 maybe blown up separately at the time of a small collision, and all theairbag bodies 42, 43, and 57 may be blown up at the same time in a largecollision. Further, in the former example, the airbag body 57 disposedunder the hood 8 may be blown up with a time lag relative to the airbagbodies 42 and 43 disposed in the vicinity of the handle bar 3, and inother words, the timing of blowing up of the airbag body 57 disposedunder the hood 8 may be delayed from the timing of blowing up of theairbag bodies 42 and 43 disposed in the vicinity of the handle bar 3.

At that time, the G-sensor 48 and the controller 49 for controlling theblowing-up of the airbag bodies 42, 43, and 57 may be operated in twosystems in which the airbag bodies 42 and 43 disposed in the vicinity ofthe handle bar 3 and the airbag body 57 disposed under the hood 8 areseparated from each other, or alternatively, operated in one system inwhich the timings of the blowing-up of the respective airbag bodies 42,43, and 57 are controlled by the controller 49.

The width H2 of the airbag body 42 along the width (i.e., lateraldirection) of the boat body 66, which is disposed in the upper centralportion in the handle cover 9, is set larger than the width H1 of thehandle bar 3 and smaller than the width H3 of the boat body 66, and thewidth H4 of the airbag body 57 disposed under the hood 8 is set largerthan the width H3 of the boat body 66 (i.e., H1<H2<H3<H4). Theblowing-up area and volume of the airbag body 57 disposed under the hood8 are made to be wider and higher than those of the airbag body 42disposed in the upper central portion in the handle cover 9.

FIGS. 12 to 14 show a small planing boat 67 according to the fourthembodiment of the present invention, and the basic structure of thesmall planing boat 67 according to this fourth embodiment is the same asthat of the small planing boat 1 of the first embodiment.

Accordingly, the same reference numerals are added to the same orcorresponding elements or components of this embodiment, and theirdescription will be omitted herein.

As shown in FIGS. 12 to 14, an airbag system 68 provided for a planingboat 67 is equipped with the airbag system 65 according to the thirdembodiment and also a plurality of airbag bodies for protecting therider 6 from a side crash.

Specifically, the airbag system 68 includes the airbag body 42 disposedat the upper central portion in the handle cover 9, for preventing thecollision of the rider 6 against the handle bar 3 by blowing up from thehandle bar 3 to the rear of a boat body 69, the airbag bodies 43disposed on both sides of the lower portion in the handle cover 9 andblown up toward the front of the knees of the rider 6 to protect theknees when colliding, the airbag body 57 disposed under the hood 8 andblown up toward the meter panel 5, for preventing the rider 6 from beingthrown forwards in a collision, a pair of left and right airbag bodies70 held in the grips 10 at both ends of the handle bar 3 and blow upalong the width of the boat body 69, for protecting the side of therider 6, and a pair of left and right airbag bodies 71 held in bothbroadsides of the boat body 69 and blow up upwards along the width ofthe boat body 69 to cover the decks 7 for the feet of the rider 6 asviewed from the side, for protecting the feet of the rider 6.

A pair of left and right support frames 72 extending upwards areprovided substantially at the central portion of the left and rightframes 33, on which housings 73 accommodating the airbag bodies 71 in afolded state are provided. A G-sensor 74 is provided under each housing73. An inflator 75 is disposed, e.g., behind each housing 73.

The broadsides of the housings 73 have openings so that the airbagbodies 71 can blow up outside the boat body 69. The openings are eachopenably closed by an airbag cover 78. Since the controller 49, theG-sensor 48 for the airbag bodies 42, 43, and 57, the harness 53, thecoupler 54, etc. are common to the aforementioned embodiments, theirdescription will be omitted herein.

The airbag body 57 is disposed under the hood 8 so as to be contracted,after the blowing-up, at a time to be later than that of the airbag body42 disposed in the upper central portion in the handle cover 9 or to behardly contract, or the airbag body 57 disposed under the hood 8 can beset not to be contracted after the blowing-up, thereby providing acondition or state of a mat.

As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, when the airbag body 57 disposed under thehood 8 takes a non-contracted state and provides the mat state after theblowing-up, the airbag body 57 can be used as a float (buoy) by movingit to the front side of the boat body 59.

FIGS. 17 and 18 show a small planing boat 85 according to the fifthembodiment of the present invention, and the basic structure of theplaning boat 85 according to this fifth embodiment is the same as thatof the planing boat 1 of the first embodiment. Accordingly, the samereference numerals are added to the same or corresponding components orelements in this embodiment, and the description thereof is now omittedherein.

As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the small planing boat 85 differs from thesmall planing boat 1 according to the first embodiment in that theplaning boat 85 has no frames 33, which are provided to the planing boat1 of the first embodiment and extend along the longitudinal direction ofthe boat body 2 on both sides of the bottom portion thereof.Accordingly, a G sensor 86 for detecting a collision can be mounted tothe front end of a stay 88 of a boat body 87, which extends from theback of the hood 8 toward the front lower portion.

Incidentally, as a characteristic feature common to all the aboveembodiments is that the operation of the airbag systems 41, 56, 65, and68 can be switched to be “ON” or “OFF” to prevent the malfunctionthereof due to a small impact that will occur inevitably when thebroadside of the boat bodies 2, 59, 66, and 69 strike against a berthwhen the small planing boats 1, 55, 64, and 67 approach or leave theberth. That is, specifically, there are a method of switching, e.g., anON/OFF switch 82 (refer to FIG. 2) manually and a method in which thecontroller 49 has the function of controlling the airbag systems 41, 56,65, and 68 automatically to be “ON” or “OFF” depending on the speedlower than a specified speed.

It is more convenient to integrate the housings 44, 45, 58, and 73 forholding the airbag bodies 42, 43, 57, 70, and 71 with the inflators 46,47, 60, and 75, respectively, as a characteristic common to all theabove embodiments, because they can easily be replaced or maintained ina cassette state.

Further, in the foregoing embodiments, the housings 44 and 45 aremounted in the handle cover 9, for example, the steering shaft 26 can bedivided axially and as such, the handle bar 3, and the handle cover 9can be detached from the boat body 2, with the housings 44 and 45mounted thereto. In the concrete structural example thereof, as shown inFIG. 19, the axially divided pieces of the steering shaft 26 are coupledtogether with a joint 55, and whirl-stop means such as serrations isdisposed so as to stop the whirl, i.e., rotation, of the steering shaft26 and the joint 77.

Further, it may be desired to dispose the dividing position of thesteering shaft 26 outside the boat body 2 when placing high priority ondetachability. On the other hand, for waterproofing, it is desirable todispose the dividing position of the steering shaft 26 in the boat body2.

Furthermore, in the foregoing embodiments, the housing 58 disposed underthe hood 8 and the G-sensor 48 are separately mounted to the frame 33.However, as shown in FIG. 20, it is also possible to provide a stay 90extending from the front portion of a housing 89 toward the front lowerportion, and a G-sensor 91 for sensing a collision is mounted to thefront end of the stay 90, thereby integrating the housing 89 and theG-sensor 91.

The operation of the planing boats according to the embodiments will bedescribed hereunder.

When the small planing boats 1, 55, 64, 67, and 85 collides againstanother boat or obstacle, the G-sensors 48, 74, and 86 detect thelongitudinal (or lateral) acceleration of the boat bodies 2, 59, 66, 69,and 87, and at this instance, when the controller 49 determines that theacceleration has exceeded an allowance, it generates a signal to theinflators 46, 47, 60, and 75 to inflate or blow up the airbag bodies 42,43, 57, 70, and 71 to prevent the rider 6 from striking against thehandle bar 3 and the meter panel 5 and prevent the rider 6 from beingthrown outside the boat bodies 2, 59, 66, 69, and 87 depending onacceleration, respectively.

In the present invention, it is allowed for the G-sensors 48, 74, and 86only to detect the collision.

Specifically, the handle cover 9 covering the handle bar 3 at an upperportion of the steering shaft 26 accommodates the airbag body 42 whichexpands and brows up from the handle bar 3 to the rear side of the boatbody 2 and the airbag body 43 which expands and blows up to the frontside of the knees of the rider 6. Accordingly, the kinetic energy of therider 6 can be effectively absorbed on the back side of the handle bar 3to thereby prevent the collision of the rider 6 against the handle bar 3and protect the knees of the rider 6.

The airbag body 57 is provided in the front space in front of the engine12 and covered by the hood 8, the airbag body 57 expanding toward themeter panel 5 by utilizing the portion of the hood 8, which covers theupper part of the meter panel 5, as a guide slop, a the time ofcollision. Accordingly, the rider 6 is prevented from being thrownforwards depending on the acceleration of the boat body 59. The supportframe 61 extending toward the lower surface of the hood 8 is provided inthe vicinity of the distal ends of the frames 33, on which the housing58 of the airbag body 57 is provided under the hood 8. Accordingly, thehousing 58 can be disposed in a position of a level higher than thewaterline 81, allowing the influence of water to be prevented andfacilitating the maintenance and detachment of the airbag system 56 fromoutside the boat body 59. This also prevents the influence of water onthe controller 49 as an electronic device.

The pair of left and right airbag bodies 70 which blow up along thewidth of the boat body 69 are accommodated in the grips 10 at both endsof the handle bar 3. Accordingly, an impact on the rider 6 by acollision applied against the side portion of the boat can be relaxed aslike as the side airbag of a four-wheel car. The airbag bodies 71 whichblow up upward along the width of the boat body 69 to cover the rider'sfeet decks 7 in a side view are provided in both broadsides of the boatbody 69. Accordingly, the normally bare legs of the rider 6 can beprotected from the impact of the side collision.

The planing boats 1, 55, 64, 67, and 85 are generally used in a summerseason and are left for a long time in, for example, a winter season.Furthermore, the boats are sometimes left for a long time under a badenvironment such as outdoors. The airbag systems 41, 56, 65, and 68 caneasily be dismounted from the boat bodies 2, 59, 66, 69, and 87 andstored in a good environment when the planing boats 1, 55, 64, 67, and85 are out of use. Thus, the functions of the airbag systems 41, 56, 65,and 68 can be maintained in good conditions all the time.

When the airbag systems 41, 56, 65, and 68, in a set with a portion ofthe boat bodies 2, 59, 66, 69, and 87, can be dismounted from the boatbodies 2, 59, 66, 69, and 87, or specifically, the handle bar 3 and thehandle cover 9, in a set with the accommodation housings 44 and 45 beingmounted, can be dismounted from the boat body 2, the airbag systems 41,56, 65, and 68 can be dismounted in a unit basis (in a module basis).Accordingly, the airbag systems 41, 56, 65, and 68 can easily bedismounted from the boat bodies 2, 59, 66, 69, and 87 for storage whenthe planing boats 1, 55, 64, 67, and 85 are out of use. Further, theseairbag systems may of course be dismounted separately.

With the structure in which the housings 44, 45, 58, 73, and 89 of theairbag systems 41, 56, 65, and 68 can easily be dismounted from the boatbodies 2, 59, 66, 69, and 87, in a case that the planing boats 1, 55,64, 67, and 85 is received with a collision and the airbag systems 41,56, 65, and 68 are activated, if the boat bodies 2, 59, 66, 69, and 87are still available for traveling, the planing boats 1, 55, 64, 67, and85 can easily be restored to driving on their own power by easilyhandling (dismounting) the airbag systems 41, 56, 65, and 68. In thiscase, it will be more convenient that the inflators 46, 47, 60, and 75are constructed to be integral with the housings 44, 45, 58, 73, and 89,respectively.

The G-sensor 48 serving as means for sensing acceleration is disposed inthe front space at the distal end of the boat body 2 which is coveredwith the hood 8. Accordingly, the G-sensor 48 can be protected fromwater, salt, fur, ice, etc. In addition, with the structure in which theG-sensor 48 is mounted detachably to the boat body 2, the G-sensor 48can easily be dismounted for storage at the time when the boat body 2 isleft unused for a long time or at night, and hence, the malfunction ofthe G-sensor 48 can be prevented from causing and the durability thereofcan be improved.

The stay 90 extending from the front portion of the housing 89 towardthe front lower side is provided, to the front end of which the G-sensor91 for detecting acceleration is mounted to integrate the housing 89 andthe G-sensor 91 together. Thus, the detachability in a unit basis(module basis), can be improved, hence, facilitating maintenance anddismounting of such equipments.

For the airbag system 65 including a plurality of airbag bodies 42, 43,and 53, when the airbag bodies 42, 43, and 53 are set to be activatedseparately or cooperatively depending on the severity or magnitude ofthe collision, even if the airbag system 41 is activated in a smallcollision, the airbag system 41 can easily be dismounted when the boatbody 2 is available for traveling, thus facilitating restoration totraveling on its own power. Furthermore, the labor and cost forreplacing the activated airbag system 41 can be reduced.

Since the timing of expansion or blowing-up of the airbag body 57disposed under the hood 8 is delayed from the timing of blowing-up ofthe airbag body 42 disposed in the vicinity of the handle bar 3, atwo-step countermeasure will be made possible, in which the airbag body42 disposed in the vicinity of the handle bar 3 first absorbs an impacton the rider 6 due to the collision, and the airbag body 57 disposedunder the hood 8 then protects the rider 6.

Since the rider 6 is not always positioned just in front of the boatbody 2, when the blowing-up area of the airbag body 57 disposed underthe hood 8 is set to be wider than that of the airbag body 42 disposedin the vicinity of the handle bar 3, the probability of capturing therider 6 will be increased.

Even if the planing boats 1, 55, 64, 67, and 85, which plane on water,are received with a collision and the boats become an unavailablecondition or it becomes impossible for the rider 6 to manage the boats,the airbag bodies 42, 43, 57, 70, and 71, which are colored inrelatively conspicuous color other than blue and green, for example,yellow or orange, have high viewability, thus easily discovering theboat bodies 2, 59, 66, 69, and 87 and promptly rescuing the rider 6 byanother person because of such viewable coloring.

Furthermore, in the structure in which the airbag body 57 disposed underthe hood 8 is brought into a mat state without contraction after theblowing-up, the airbag body 57 can be utilized as a cushion for therider 6 and kinetic energy thereof can be absorbed by the airbag body 42disposed in the vicinity of the handle bar 3, and the airbag body 57 canalso be used as a float (buoy) to prevent the boat body 59 from sinkingunder water after the collision, and in such case, the rider 6 can usethe airbag body 57 as a rescue float.

The width H2 of the airbag body 42 along the width of the boat body 66,which is disposed in the upper central portion in the handle cover 9, isset to be larger than the width H1 of the handle bar 3 and smaller thanthe width H3 of the boat body 2. The width H4 of the airbag body 57disposed under the hood 8 is set to be larger than the width H3 of theboat body 66. The volume of the airbag body 57 disposed under the hood 8is set to be larger than the volume of the airbag body 42 disposed atthe upper central portion in the handle cover 9. Such dimensionalarrangement makes it possible to increase the probability of capturingthe rider 6 and, thereby, prevent the rider 6 from striking against thehood 8 when the boat body 66 collides with another one or like.

In the examples of the above-mentioned embodiments, the inflators 46,47, 60, and 75 using high-pressure gas are used as means for expandingand inflating (i.e., blowing up) the airbag bodies 42, 43, 57, 70, and71. Alternatively, an inflator using explosive or an electricallyblowing-up inflator may be used. A supply source for stating theactivation or operation of the airbag systems 41, 56, 65, and 68 may beeither a general battery 92 or the generator of the engine 12.

It may be required for the two-stroke-cycle engines to have largechambers for exhaust with high heat, and this causes limitations inlayout when the airbag systems 41, 56, 65, and 68 employinghigh-pressure gas or explosive for the inflators 46, 47, 60, and 75 aredisposed in the boat bodies 2, 59, 66, 69, and 87 with atwo-stroke-cycle engine.

On the other hand, the use of a four-stroke-cycle engine 12 increasesthe flexibility of layout of the airbag systems 41, 56, 65, and 68 ascompared with those with the two-stroke-cycle engine.

Even with the four-stroke-cycle engine 12, some heat is generated, thatis, for example, the dry-sump oil tank 17, the exhaust pipe 22, and themuffler 14 generate heat. Accordingly, when the engine 12 is disposedunder the rider driving seat 4 substantially at the central portion ofthe boat body 2 and the auxiliary engine machinery such as the fuel tank15 is disposed in the boat body 2, a space remote from such heat sourcecan be formed at the portion or part in front of the engine 12 andcovered with the hood 8, making it possible to provide the space for theairbag system 56.

In the foregoing embodiments, the engine 12 employs a dry sumplubrication system with a separate oil tank 17. The engine 12 may,however, employ a general wet sump lubrication system without oil tank17 as separate component.

Incidentally, a wet-bike type small planing boat generally has no frame33. However, when the airbag system 56 is disposed in the front centralportion of the boat body 59, it is advantageous to provide the frames 33to protect the airbag system 56 from the deformation of the boat body 59at the time of collision. In this case, it is desirable for the frames33 to have rigidity. In the case where the G-sensor 48 for detecting thecollision of the boat body 59 is disposed behind the front end of theframes 33, there is a case that the boat body 59 cannot workeffectively.

However, according to the present invention, when the planing boats 1,55, 64, 67, and 85 themselves have some rigidity and the airbag bodies42 and 43 are disposed in the handle cover 9, which is hardly influencedby the deformation of the boats, it is not always necessary to disposethe frames 33 (refer to the fifth embodiment). That is, it is importantfor the boat to have a structure such that the deformation of the boatgives no effect on the activation of the airbag body.

On the other hand, in the structure in which the housing 58 foraccommodating and holding the airbag body 57 is disposed ahead of thefront end portions of the frames 33, the housing 58 may be deformed bythe impact of the collision, which interferes with the activation of theairbag. Accordingly, when the G-sensor 48 is disposed in front of theend portions of the frames 33, and the housing 58 is disposed behind thefront end portions of the frames 33, or when the end portions of theframes 33 are positioned between the G-sensor 48 and the housing 58, theabove defective matters can be overcome and solved.

Furthermore, in the structure in which the rigidity of the distal endsof the boat bodies 2, 59, 66, 69, and 87 are set to be lower than thatof the other parts of the boat bodies 2, 59, 66, 69, and 87, the distalends of the boat bodies 2, 59, 66, 69, and 87 are endowed with an impactabsorbing function, providing effective protective function to the rider6, in association with the functions of the airbag systems 41, 56, 65,and 68. In addition, since the inside of the distal end of the boat body2 is coated with the elastic material 35 such as rubber to form a doublestructure and render it waterproof, the boat bodies 2, 59, 66, 69, and87 can be prevented from invading of water even if the distal ends ofthe boat bodies 2, 59, 66, 69, and 87 absorb the impact and then aredeformed.

Still furthermore, the airbag bodies 42, 43, 57, 70, and 71 are made ofa waterproof and water-repellent material such as rubber, the blowing-upof the airbag bodies 42, 43, 57, 70, and 71 cannot be hindered by water.Moreover, since the expanded airbag bodies 42, 43, 57, 70, and 71 do notabsorb water or contain no water therein, it is easy to handle theexpanded airbag systems 41, 56, 65, and 68, taking no long time torestore the traveling on their own power, thus being advantageous. Inaddition, the rubber material is easy to reproduce, has elasticity, andis easy to handle in water.

It is further to be noted that the present invention is not limited tothe described embodiments and many other changes and modifications maybe made without departing from the scopes of the appended claims.

1. A planing boat with an airbag system comprising: a boat bodyextending in a longitudinal direction of a planing boat; an enginemounted in the boat body; a steering handle bar supported by a steeringshaft at an upper portion of the boat body configured to be turned rightand left; a handle cover which covers the handle bar; a hood whichcovers a front half upper surface of the boat body in front of thehandle bar; a rider driving seat disposed behind the handle bar; and anairbag system including at least one bag-shaped airbag body, a housingwhich accommodates the airbag body, a detector for detecting a collisionof the boat, an expanding unit which inflates or blows up the airbagbody at the time of collision of the boat, and a controller forcontrolling the detector and the inflation of the airbag body, theairbag system including a first airbag body in the handle cover which isblown up from the handle bar to a rear side of the boat and a secondairbag body in the handle cover which is blown up toward a front side ofknees of a rider.
 2. The planing boat according to claim 1, wherein thesecond airbag body is composed of two airbags to be expanded laterallyrearward from a portion near the handle bar.
 3. The planning boaraccording to claim 1, wherein at least first airbag body, second airbagbody of the airbag system, the housing and the airbag expanding unit aremounted to the boat body to be detachable integrally with at least oneof the handle bar and associated members therewith.
 4. The planing boataccording to claim 3, wherein the steering shaft is divided axially intodivided pieces which are coupled together with a joint, and awhirl-stopping member is disposed so as to stop whirl motion of thesteering shaft and the joint.
 5. The planing boat according to claim 1,wherein the detector is mounted to the boat body to be detachable in aset with a portion of the boat body.
 6. The planing boat according toclaim 1, wherein the airbag body is colored in a color other than blueand green or coated with a fluorescent paint.
 7. The planing boataccording to claim 1, wherein the engine is a four-stroke-cycle engine.8. The planing boat according to claim 1, wherein the airbag systemincludes further airbag bodies which are disposed in the grips on bothends of the handle bar so as to be expanded and blown up along the widthof the boat body.
 9. The planing boat according to claim 1, wherein theairbag system includes still further airbag bodies which are disposed inbroadsides of the boat body so as to be expanded and blown up upwardalong the width of the boat body to cover a rider's feet decks in a sideview.
 10. The planing boat according to claim 1, wherein the airbagsystem is switched “ON” and “OFF”.